Dunham Sisterhood
by lois88
Summary: A nightly visit from her sister leads Olivia to present some shocking revelations.


**Dunham Sisterhood**

Disclaimer: Don't own Fringe – if I did, it would still be on.

Summary: A nightly visit from her sister leads Olivia to present some shocking revelations.

Author's Note: Look what I found just sitting on my computer. I must have started writing this last summer after season 4 ended; I just never got around to posting it. So enjoy now – and Feedback is always welcome.

* * *

It was quiet in the room – too quiet. Everything that disturbed the eerie silence was his soft snoring at her side – a sound she loved, a sound she had missed for too long and one she found herself craving now whenever he was working late or too occupied with his own thoughts to come to rest. But also a sound too soft and reassuring to be a distraction from the inner turmoil in her own mind – the very same that had kept her up to this late hour.

So Olivia lay awake, staring at the ceiling, one hand covering Peter's over her still flat stomach, his protectiveness of her and their unborn child even in sleep bringing a smile to her lips.

Too much had happened in the last couple of days – the end of the world marking only the beginning of the chaos – to allow her mind to truly rest right now. Though she knew she should will it to, she knew she needed to take better care of herself especially now. Not that Peter would allow otherwise. He hadn't left her side for a second since they had left the hospital a couple nights ago, had placed her safely in the confines of their bed and made sure she had everything she needed. She was certain he hadn't taken a beat to take a deep breath ever since. So the fact that he had finally succumbed to his exhaustion should put her at ease right now.

But it didn't. Because it couldn't chase away the memory of his haunted look ever since she had come back to life a few days prior. She knew him. She knew he would most certainly blame himself for this till the end of time itself, no matter what she had to say about that. She knew his current peaceful state would only last for so long, before eventually, the nightmares would start. So how could she possibly not worry about him right now?

How could she not think about the next apocalypse looming over the horizon? How could she not speculate how this child could possibly live long enough to reach pre-school age with the lives they led, the situations they managed to get themselves into on a daily base?

There were too many memories swirling through her head, too many lives lived in too many timelines and different universes for her to think that that part of her life was behind her. She couldn't afford the luxury of hope right now, no matter how much she wanted to give herself over to it. She needed to be prepared for the next catastrophe – for the sake of the child growing inside of her, the one she couldn't quite believe how much she already loved.

Of course though, said child also needed for her to rest once in a while. It was a vicious cycle, wasn't it?

Releasing a heavy sigh, she moved her attention back to Peter and his soft snoring, taking in his appearance in the darkened bedroom. He looked younger in sleep, less worry lines creasing his features. And if it weren't for the tight grip that held her in place as close to him as possible, she would almost say he looked peaceful. But even unconscious he wouldn't allow himself that, not after everything they had been through, not with this new life on the way both of them needed to protect above all else.

Smiling, she brought a hand to his forehead, twirling a short lock of his dark brown hair between her fingers. He would take care of them, come hell or high water. So maybe it was okay for her to indulge in a couple hours of sleep after all. The rest of the world and the worries that came with it would still be there in the morning …

… probably.

Resting her hand on Peter's once again, trying to ease his grip on the bed sheets covering them a little, she finally allowed her lids to flutter closed, concentrating on the sound of her boyfriend's breathing, knowing it was the only thing able to lull her to sleep these days.

But fate intervened. A knock on the door startled her back into reality. And by the time it had taken her to glance at the alarm clock on her bedside table, Peter had already grabbed the gun out of his and rolled out of bed, scanning the dimly lit room with the firearm drawn – the safety clearly off.

Olivia silently winced at the sight. It was a habit he had acquired only recently – sleeping with a gun within reach. She knew he could handle one, had suspected so since the day they had met a timeline ago – but he had only started carrying one permanently a couple of weeks ago, when it had become clear that she had become the target of David Robert Jones once again. It still made her uneasy. He hadn't signed up for this, he was a scientist, not a trained operative. She was supposed to protect them, to draw fire away from him if necessary, just like she would have done four years ago in an entirely different world – although they both agreed on the fact that that would be out of the question for at least the next nine months.

And yet, it made her feel safer, knowing he would take out anyone who would dare to attempt to harm her or the baby. She only hated that it added an impossible weight to the burden he was already carrying on his shoulders.

A few seconds passed in which he moved to the wall and found the light switch in the dark, bathing the room in a light so bright it made her squint her eyes together forcefully. Then, another knock sounded from the front door, followed by a tentative: "Olivia?"

Peter lowered the weapon immediately, turning around to her equally stunned form on the bed. "Rachel?", they asked each other in unison, having recognized her sister's voice through the door.

"I'll be right there", Olivia then called through the apartment, loud enough to be heard in the hall.

"What is she doing here?", Peter asked while stashing the gun back in its hiding place, rubbing a hand over his sleepy face.

Crawling out of bed, Olivia shrugged her shoulders. "At three in the morning? Your guess is as good as mine. So why don't I go and ask her while you put on a shirt or something?" She smirked at his naked chest for a second, then pulled him closer by the waistband of his boxer shorts to give him a quick peck on the lips.

Before he could properly return it, she had already moved out of his reach again, making her way to through the apartment, trying not to stumble over the boxes littering almost every available space on the floor. Not quite knowing what to do with himself these last couple of days, Peter had started to pack up the little stuff he had acquired since popping back into existence and they had brought it over from the house. He had never liked it there since everything had changed – it was too quiet without Walter. And since they had already put down an offer for a new home and were planning on moving within the next few weeks …

Plus, it wasn't as if he would leave her side anytime soon anyway.

So engrossed in the idea of their new life together, Olivia didn't realize what a visit from her sister would actually mean until she had opened the door for her and it was too late.

… until she laid eyes on the toddler in Rachel's arms she had only ever seen in pictures in the photo albums Nina had made her look at again and again over the last couple of months.

Her look fixed on the nephew she had never met, Olivia didn't realize her sister's tired and bloodshot eyes at first, didn't even register her niece's exclamation of "Aunt Liv!" until the girl had rushed forward and thrown her arms around her waist.

Casting a glance down while returning the hug, she realized not without relief that the girl didn't appear much different than the last time she had seen her in person, almost a year ago, in another timeline. She had grown a few inches, though. "Ella, hey!"

"I'm sorry to barge in on you like this", Rachel eventually said, drawing her older sister's attention, which immediately focused on her teary eyes.

Waiting a second until Ella had skipped into the living room and plopped down on the couch, Olivia asked without any real surprise: "What did Greg do?"

Really, it wasn't surprising at all. The Déjà vu came over her while she waited for her sister to reply. This exact situation, only years prior, the toddler in Rachel's arms being Ella that time around. The only thing that came as a surprise was the fact that the marriage had lasted this long in the shiny new timeline.

"A stewardess on his last business trip", her sister finally pressed out while stepping into the apartment, careful not to alert her daughter.

Olivia closed the door, awkwardly taking a hold of the boy being passed into her arms without as much as a warning. "You must be Eddie", she whispered to him as Rachel tended to Ella, relieving the girl of her shoes and jacket. Pressing a kiss to the happily gurgling child's cheek, she found she was glad that he was still so young. Young enough not to remember the things she forgot. They would get reacquainted quickly.

Over her nephew's head, she searched for the look of her niece and found it staring back at her sadly, answering a question she hadn't dared to ask. Rachel might have tried to keep her daughter in the dark about her father's latest indiscretion, but the girl knew. Ella had always known.

"I'm sorry", her sister said again, looking up at her now. "But we didn't know where else to go."

"Don't be ridiculous", Olivia reassured her, sitting the boy down on the couch beside his older sister, smiling when she immediately put an arm around him. "You know you can always come here."

Rachel nodded thankfully, opening her mouth to say something else, when a faint cough from the direction of the bedroom startled her back into a standing position.

"Hi", Peter greeted them cheerily, one hand stretched out in an awkward little wave. "I'm Peter", he added as an afterthought, making Olivia realize with a start that Rachel had never met him this time around. "Peter Bishop." She also noticed that he had somehow found a pair of sweatpants in the maze of boxes that was their bedroom and thrown over the MIT-Shirt she had bought him some time ago to replace the one that never was – one she rarely ever let him wear himself.

"Hi", Rachel greeted back after a moment of silence, holding out her hand as Peter extended his for a proper introduction. "I'm Rachel."

After shaking his hand, she turned back to her sister. "O my God, I'm so sorry, I didn't think … well, I didn't think at all, it appears. We'll just stay at a hotel for the night …"

"Rach, it's the middle of the night", Olivia argued, grabbing her sister's hand, stopping her from fleeing the apartment. "And look at your son, you wouldn't wanna wake him now, would you?"

Brow furrowing, the younger Dunham turned around to her kids, seeing that Eddie must have fallen asleep pressed between his sister and the couch cushions sometime in the last two minutes.

"Why don't you put the kids to bed and then we'll talk, okay?" Olivia made sure to use her big-sister-voice that didn't leave room for an argument.

Her look wandering between her sister's resolute expression and Peter's reassuring smile, Rachel nodded eventually, picking up her son without waking him and motioning for Ella to follow her. On her way to the bedroom, she turned to Peter once again, mouthing another "I'm sorry".

As soon as she was out of earshot, he took a step closer to his girlfriend, placing his hands on her arms. "Greg?", he asked without much surprise himself.

"A stewardess this time", Olivia answered, trying to keep her voice down even in anger.

"I think they are called flight attendants these days", Peter tried to lighten the mood. It only earned him an evil glare. "Or maybe they're not. Timelines change …"

That at least got him a chuckle. "I don't think we'll be getting much sleep tonight after all", she eventually sighed, regretting now that she hadn't used the time she had had more wisely.

"Maybe I should leave", Peter suggested, motioning for the door. "Give the two of you a chance to talk."

But Olivia held onto his arms, keeping him in place. "And do what? Wander the streets of Boston in the middle of the night or sleep on the floor of your now empty place? No, just stay in the kitchen for a while and make us a coffee or something."

He smiled thankfully. He hadn't wanted to leave anyway – never wanted to leave her ever again, period. "Or something it is. You're not supposed to have coffee, remember?"

Olivia rolled her eyes for a second, about to remind him that it was their kid they were talking about. It would be born with caffeine in the veins no matter what. But something stopped her – a sudden wave of guilt.

It took her sister to show up at three in the morning with her kids in tow to realize how troubled her marriage was. After the seismic shift in her memory she hadn't even attempted to go and visit her – see Ella and meet Eddie. Yes, they had talked to each other over the phone a couple times a month, but had never discussed anything more serious than the weather. God, her own sister had no idea who Peter was – or that she was about to become an aunt.

Granted, this whole baby-thing was so new and she was still in the process of coming to terms with it herself, but still …

And yes, her set of memories being what it was, it wasn't hard to forget that Rachel had no clue about her boyfriend …

Plus, there had been this whole end-of-the-world-business and a bullet through her brain …

Olivia shook her head. Yeah, her life was crazy, the past month in particular. But that shouldn't be an excuse. She and Rachel used to be closer than this.

"Liv …?"

Speaking of Rachel …

Olivia turned around in Peter's arms, finding her sister back in the living room, looking at them warily. It appeared she too had assumed he would have left by now.

But before any of them could say something to break the tension in the room, a small voice called out from the doorway to the bedroom: "Mom?"

Rachel turned around in time for Ella to join them in the living room again, letting out a sigh. "Why aren't you in bed, Baby? Believe me, it's way past your bedtime."

"I'm not tired", the girl argued, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Peter had to suppress a grin at the sight. She was a little Dunham alright. And he couldn't blame her, either. Rachel had probably dragged the kids halfway across the country without really explaining anything to them, not knowing how to. And he knew a thing or two about being a kid in a situation like this. But he also knew that her mom needed a well-deserved break right now.

So before either her mother or her aunt could try to steer the kid back to bed, he kneeled down in front of Ella, suggesting: "You know what my Mom used to make me whenever I couldn't sleep? Some good old warm milk."

The girl only raised an eyebrow, not convinced.

But Peter was no fool, he knew how to win over Dunham women. So he leaned a little closer and whispered conspiratorially: "We could put in some chocolate and marshmallows." Ella had never said no to Hot Chocolate and he was certain she wouldn't start now.

Gnawing at her bottom lip for a second, the girl then looked up at her mother, who in turn locked eyes with Olivia, who simply nodded.

"Okay, but then you really need to go to bed", Rachel relented, uneasy about leaving her daughter with a stranger, but somewhat calmed by her sister's okay.

Ella didn't need to be asked twice. She grabbed Peter by the hand without hesitation and started dragging him towards the kitchen, making him laugh at her sudden enthusiasm.

Olivia watched them with a wistful smile, mouthing a "Thank you" in his direction. Then she grabbed her sister's hand and led her to the couch, pushing her into the cushions before sitting down right across from her. "Okay, what happened? Do you want me to shoot him?" She hoped the question sounded enough like a joke – it sure didn't feel that way on her tongue.

But thankfully, for the first time since her arrival, Rachel's lips turned upward into something resembling a smile.

* * *

"And you always have to make sure to add the right amount of marshmallows", Peter finished his tutorial on the perfect Hot Chocolate, pushing the mug over the table towards his highly interested student, watching in amusement when she took an almost careful sniff of the beverage.

"That's not how Mommy makes it", she stated.

Peter rolled his eyes. "Just try it, please?" He regarded her with his best puppy-dog-look, the one he usually reserved for her aunt.

Shrugging her shoulders, the girl finally relented, grabbing the mug with both hands and taking a tentative first sip, unaware of Peter's watchful eyes – or the grin that broke out over his face when her eyes lit up at the taste of his chocolaty treat. O yeah, he did have a talent for winning over the Dunham women.

Putting the mug down again and trying to compose her features, she eventually rewarded his efforts with a simple: "Not bad."

He nodded, suppressing a grin. "Imagine my relief. You think your Mom and Aunt would want some, too?"

Ella nodded eagerly, making him turn around to the stove again. "So, you're Aunt Liv's boyfriend?", she asked with his back turned to her then, busy with the contents of her porcelain mug.

Peter almost winced at the term. Boyfriend … It was just so … inadequate, at best. After everything they had been through, after crossing universes, changing timelines and now with a baby on the way …

Not to mention that at a certain point in space and time they had in fact been married – something he would always remember but she never possibly could. But how could he explain that to his niece? Or rather the girl who wasn't quite his niece yet, at least officially, but would always be in his heart? The girl whose dates he had scared into submission in a future that never was?

And it wasn't as if he and Olivia had never talked about making it official again, but with worlds ending and universes collapsing around them constantly, who had the time? They should really pencil it in soon, though. Maybe after everything had settled down at the new house and before the baby came … provided any universe-changing cases wouldn't come in between.

Lost in thought, Peter didn't realize that Ella still waited for an answer until she cleared her throat behind him. Looking back, he therefore simply nodded. "Yeah, for now."

The girl nodded, seemingly deep in thought. "So, what do I call you? Uncle Peter?"

His eyes grew wide – and admittedly a little teary at the kid's straightforward question. "If you'd like that, yes. I'd be honored."

"Okay", the kid agreed, the topic settled for her. Then she flashed him a sheepish grin and pushed her now empty mug in his direction. "I'm not that sleepy yet."

Peter grinned in response. "I'm sure some more sugar will work wonders on that", he deadpanned, but proceeded to give her a refill anyway. The kid hadn't had an easy day, after all.

She beamed in response. "Thanks, Uncle Peter!"

* * *

"And then he has the nerve and tries to play it down, can you believe that?", Rachel asked her sister at this point, having talked herself in quite a rage after a while. "Because it only happened this one time."

"So he says", Olivia interjected, pretty sure her brother-in-law's infidelities from the current timeline didn't differ much from the previous one.

Her sister raised her eyebrow, but didn't comment on the snide remark. Olivia had never really made secret about her dislike for Greg. Not that she could blame her now. In fact, if she didn't know her any better, she would expect the 'I told you so' any minute now.

"Anyway, I was just so furious, I couldn't stand being in the same state with him anymore, let alone the same room. So I grabbed the kids, put them in the car and just left. I had no idea where I was going until I was already halfway to Boston. Figured you'd have trouble sleeping like always …," at that, she couldn't help but smirk. "Which you did, but not for the reasons you used to – I'm really sorry, I honestly didn't even consider the possibility of you having such handsome company."

The older Dunham rolled her eyes. "Jeez, thanks, Sis."

"Hey, don't blame me, the last time I saw you with a man, was in college, I think. Not that I didn't expect you to … unwind from time to time. Which is the perfect way of life, now that I think about it." Nodding resolutely, she pulled her knees up on the couch and rested her chin on them. "From now on, I'm gonna use men for sex and sex alone. Love is way overrated, just like you always said."

Olivia winced, one hand unconsciously landing on her still taut stomach, her thoughts drifting to Peter and the overjoyed smile on his lips when she had told him. Yet, it wasn't too farfetched for her to believe that she had in fact said that to her impressionable younger sibling, remembering the Olivia Dunham that Peter had described to her from this timeline. Hell, she probably even said it to her in the original one, though maybe jokingly.

Who was she kidding? After witnessing her mother first losing her father, then being abused by her stepfather only to see her die shortly thereafter … there was no way any Olivia Dunham who had suffered through that would still have believed in a love that conquers all. And as far as she knew, albeit being a loving surrogate mother, Nina Sharp had never been in so much as a stable relationship either.

Of course, her opinion on the matter had changed rather quickly in both time streams – Peter Bishop being the common denominator. Not that poor Rachel would know about that – and it was about time she rectified that.

Yeah, telling her heartbroken sister how happy she was, with a man she loved and a baby on the way … perfect timing, wasn't it? Well, at least the news of becoming an aunt would put a smile on Rachel's face.

Clearing her throat, she pulled up her knees as well, mirroring the other woman's position. "Listen, Rach … Greg may be a weasel, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any good men out there for you. You'll just have to have an open mind."

Her sister's eyebrow shot up to her hairline. "Who are you and what have you done to my sister?"

Another wince was the response. Such jokes haven't sat well with Olivia for quite a long while and always brought back unwelcome memories of a certain redhead. Shaking her head to banish those, she opened her mouth to take another shot, but was interrupted by Peter emerging from the kitchen.

"Ladies, sorry to interrupt, but I figured you could both use a Hot Chocolate." With a smile on his face, he brought over two steaming mugs, placing them before the girls on the coffee table. "Just so you know, Ella highly recommends it."

Olivia returned his smile thankfully. Speaking of good men …

"Thanks", Rachel replied, eyeing him warily. "I may need something a little stronger, though."

Peter grinned, pointing at Olivia. "Well, just in case, she keeps the good stuff in the cabinet above the microwave."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind", Rachel replied, raising her mug in appreciation.

Already halfway back to the kitchen, he called back to them: "Well, don't mind me. I'm just gonna go back in there and make sure your kid doesn't overdose on cocoa."

That actually managed to bring a smile to the woman's face. "I could see that happening."

As soon as he was out of earshot again, she leaned closer to her sister, whispering: "Wow, boy toys are considerate these days, aren't they? I can imagine what you see in him."

Olivia hid her face behind her own mug. "Believe me, Sis, you couldn't even begin to imagine."

Rachel didn't quite catch the meaning behind those words and just snorted. "I'll bet." After taking a sip of the hot beverage in her hands, she added: "Well, he makes one hell of a Hot Chocolate, that's for sure. Where did you find him?"

"Baghdad", her sister answered without thinking, elaborating: "We work together, actually."

"Where else would a workaholic like you find someone? That reminds me, though, Nina told me you were seeing someone from work – but that must have been weeks ago. It surely can't be the same guy, right?", Rachel asked cheekily, knowing her sister's dating habits … or at least thinking she did.

"Nina, right! Did you talk to her? About Greg, I mean." Considering the fact that the CEO of Massive Dynamic had been their mother for the better part of Rachel's life, that thought wasn't so strange.

Nonetheless, her sister shook her head. "I thought about it. But I needed someone to vent. And you know Nina …"

Yeah, sure …

"I'll be going to her when I need to be coddled." Rachel smiled in thought, not noticing her older sibling's discomfort.

Eventually, Olivia managed a smile. "I'm sure she'll love to have the kids around." That much she knew, thinking back to the giant teddy bear currently residing in the lab, where it had been delivered to as soon as the news of her pregnancy had reached Nina just a day before. Thanks to Walter's big mouth, she hadn't needed to figure out a way to tell her herself. And given their tumultuous relationship, she was more than glad for that.

"Yeah, she always tells me so", Rachel continued. "Also that she wouldn't mind more grandkids … Not that that will happen anytime soon now."

Well …

Putting her mug back on the coffee table, Olivia leaned forward once more, grabbing her sister's hands. "Listen Rachel, we really need to talk."

"Mom, Aunt Liv!"

Shaking her head, Olivia's head snapped around to the kitchen once more, seeing her niece emerge with a smile on her face and a deck of cards in her little hands. Peter trotted in behind her, an apologetic look in his eyes.

When the girl arrived in front of her mother, she put the cards on the table and bounced a little. "I know a card trick, Mommy. Uncle Peter showed me."

Rachel's eyes widened at the title the girl used for the man she barely knew, hardly able to follow her daughter's eager hands. Olivia would kill her!

But Olivia herself only rolled her eyes at her niece's enthusiasm, looking up at Peter questioningly. It had been what? Just under thirty minutes and he was already Uncle Peter again? Seems like he had won over another Dunham in no time.

He only shrugged in response. The girl had been as fascinated by his card tricks as her aunt had once been.

After showing her mother what she had learned, Peter apologized for the interruption and steered Ella back into the kitchen with the promise of teaching her some more.

When they were gone, Rachel grabbed her sister's arm, panic shining in her eyes. "I'm so, so sorry."

Olivia frowned. "Would you stop apologizing already?! And what are you apologizing for anyway?"

Rachel looked at her as if she had grown a second head, gesturing for the kitchen. "Uncle Peter? She's gonna scare that cute guy right out of here if she keeps calling him that."

After a few seconds of silence, her sister couldn't stop herself any longer, she let out a loud, heartfelt laugh.

Rachel's bewilderment growing with every second, she watched in disbelief as the other woman started to wipe tears out of her eyes until she could get herself back under control.

"Don't you worry. Peter isn't going anywhere. And really, where would he go to? All his stuff is here." She motioned to the other side of the room, where boxes were lined up against the entire wall – something Rachel had somehow managed to miss until now.

Following her sister's look, the younger Dunham's eyes grew as wide as saucers. "That's his stuff? He's living here?"

Way to go, Olivia. Biting her lip, she confessed: "Well, for now. And it's not all his stuff, some of it is mine. We … we're kinda in the middle of moving right now. I was gonna tell you, I swear. It's just, work has been crazy – which is no excuse. I'm sorry." She could actually feel the blush creep up her cheeks.

Rachel's eyes were about to pop out of her skull by now. "You are kidding me. Tell me you are kidding me!"

Her sister shook her head. "I'm not – again, sorry."

"So you are telling me, while my marriage has been going up in smoke, you found a guy to shack up with? A guy I – up until half an hour ago – knew next to nothing about? What the hell, Liv?" She was angry now – at her sister instead of her husband, which was a welcome change of scenery.

Olivia sighed, having anticipated this outcome. "Well, the timing couldn't be much worse now, could it?", she tried to joke. It didn't quite lighten the mood the way she had hoped.

"Hey, this is serious. How long have you been with this man?", Rachel asked, a worried edge to her voice now. Her sister was too smart to make the same mistakes she had, right?

Hesitating a second, the other woman tried to decide on a plausible story. "It's complicated, Rach. We've been working together for four years now and a lot of the stuff that happened in that time I couldn't possibly tell you about for confidential reasons. We finally got together about a year and a half ago, but then something happened … he had to go, work overseas on a project for a while. When he came back a couple months ago, it was as if nothing had changed and we fell back into our old routine. I had honestly forgotten that you didn't know about him till you showed up just now." Well, that last part was true, at least.

Rachel swallowed. "So this is like the thing with John then?" He was the only guy her sister had ever mentioned to her before. Of course, she had waited with that until after he had died, but still …

Olivia shook her head, surprising both of them with a smile. "No. This – Peter – he is the real deal, Rach."

"The real deal? Are you honestly the same person that tried to talk me out of marrying Greg while helping me into my wedding dress?" Rachel crossed her arms in front of her chest, not really inclined to believe a word she heard.

Her sister snickered. Some things never changed, no matter the timeline. "Guilty as charged. But Peter isn't Greg."

"Liv, I've known Greg since College, been married to him ever since and gave birth to his two children – and yet, turns out I don't know him at all. So how can you be so sure about this guy?", the younger sister asked exasperated.

Well, apart from basically erasing himself from existence to save my life …

Olivia swallowed, trying to figure out a way to explain her and Peter's history without endangering National Security. "If you see the things we see every day at work, if you have to fight, always having each other's backs, if you try to save the world together – figuratively speaking – and you still manage to come out on the other side, alive … you get to know somebody pretty well."

"And yet you never mentioned him", Rachel reminded her. "Maybe because you knew that it wasn't in character for you to fall so head over heels in love with anybody and that I would notice that? Sis, you really aren't sounding like yourself right now."

Her sister nodded without hesitation. "I know. Because I'm sounding happy – happier than I've ever been … which I know, couldn't come at a worse time for you."

"O please, if you're happy, than I'm happy for you. And who knows, maybe the universe can only allow one Dunham sister to be in a happy relationship at a time and I've had my fill. It's your turn now. Enjoy it for as long as it lasts."

Olivia couldn't fail to notice the bite to her sister's words. Sitting up a little straighter, she grabbed the other woman's hands, making her look her in the eye for emphasis. "Listen to me, Rachel. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this sooner, I really am. But you have to understand that Peter isn't just a fling for me. He is the one person who knows me better than anyone else in the world – he is family."

The worry lines on Rachel's forehead increased by the second, but she continued meeting her sister's eyes until Olivia took one last preparing breath and blurted out: "And we're going to have a baby."

The younger woman yanked her hands away, her look immediately dropping down to her sister's stomach, her mouth gaping wide open. "You … what?"

Despite everything, Olivia smiled, her now free hands travelling to her stomach, explaining with unbound joy in her words: "You're gonna be an aunt."

* * *

"So, let me get this straight", Rachel started to recap after the five minutes it had taken her sister to calm her down enough to speak again. "My husband cheats on me with a flight attendant in her early twenties, propelling me to pack up my children and drive to Boston in the middle of the night, where I suspect to find my ever overworked big sister alone in her apartment, probably eating dry cereal right out of the box and washing it down with her favorite whiskey. You know – something normal."

Olivia smirked at the visual – nothing too out of the ordinary only a couple months ago in this timeline, she was sure.

"But instead", her sister continued, "I happen to drag her out of her exceptionally cute baby daddy's arms, a man who is now in the kitchen, winning over my daughter's heart with a little too professional looking card tricks and a chocolate overdose. All the while my usually grumpy sibling cannot seem to stop smiling to an almost ridiculous degree. Is that so?"

"That's the progress of events", the older Dunham agreed before flinching. "But don't call him my baby daddy, please."

Rachel raised her eyebrow. "What would you prefer? Husband, maybe?"

Her sister chuckled, shrugging her shoulders. "At some point, sure. We honestly haven't had a lot of time to discuss this properly. To say the last few days have been busy would be an understatement of epic proportions. But we'll get there."

The easygoing manner with which Olivia talked about this astonished the younger woman. Her sister had never appeared to wish for a love that would last a lifetime, the kind that came with a white dress, a picket fence and a minivan. But apparently, these were all just technicalities for her now, having already decided to spend the rest of her life with this man anyway - wedding vows notwithstanding.

"How can you be so trusting?," she therefore asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest defensively. "After what happened to me? After … Mom?" She had hesitated bringing it up, their stepfather always a sore subject between them, but it had to be asked.

Olivia closed her eyes for a moment, willing away the tears that threatened to fall at the mention of their mother. "I don't have faith in the institution of marriage all of a sudden, Rachel, or even in the world at large. But Peter I trust completely. If I have faith in anything, it is him. And I'm sorry, but this isn't something I could explain to you in words."

Rachel snorted, supporting her head on the back of the couch. "Wow, this guy sounds too good to be true. Wish to God I had met him before."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Well, since you're gonna be in Boston for a while, you'll have all the time in the world to properly grill him for any kind of information your little heart desires."

Her sister's eyes shot up to her hairline. "That's a splendid idea, Sis. And since we're both here, why not start right now? I'm sure Ella would love for her favorite aunt to tuck her in while I get acquainted with 'Uncle Peter', wouldn't you say?"

The older Dunham looked up at that, letting out a deep sigh. "At four in the morning? Sure, why the hell not?"

* * *

"So you and Aunt Liv catch bad guys all the time?", Ella asked Peter over her now almost empty second cup of Hot Chocolate, the beverage forgotten over the stories he engaged her in.

The man grinned at the childlike innocence with which this question was being asked, nothing he encountered often these days – something he already longed to see in his own child's eyes. "I swear! You should see your aunt out there, she's basically a superhero."

"Then what are you?", the girl asked back, true curiosity creasing her forehead.

"He's my trusty sidekick, what else?"

Peter looked up at the voice coming from the doorway, seeing Olivia there with arms crossed and a mischievous grin playing around her lips.

"And proud to be of service, let me tell you", he added in Ella's direction before moving his attention to his girlfriend. "Everything okay out there?"

She nodded, coming deeper into the room to rest a hand on her niece's shoulder. "Yeah, but somebody should be in bed already … and somebody else has been summoned into the living room for a third degree." She glanced up at Peter meaningfully, mouthing a silent: 'She knows.'

"Splendid", he just said.

"But Uncle Peter wanted to tell me a story!" The girl protested, making him grin and her aunt just roll her eyes.

Coaxing her out of her chair, Olivia promised: "I'm gonna tell you a story tonight, okay? You can play with Peter tomorrow."

"Okay!" Ella rejoiced at the prospect, now grabbing her aunt's hand and attempting to drag her into the bedroom with her, calling a "Night, Mom!" into her mother's direction on the way.

"Good night, Baby", Rachel replied with a smile, waiting for the both of them to disappear out of earshot before focusing on Peter who was now standing awkwardly in front of the couch. "I don't bite", she assured him, motioning for him to sit.

He accepted with a smile, taking a seat across from her on the coffee table, adding jokingly: "Well, with a Dunham, you never know."

She hated that he made her chuckle right from the start. Charming bastard! "I guess you don't. But since you mention it, how well do you think you know my sister? Because I happen to know her pretty well and that woman in there", she waved in the direction of the bedroom, "isn't the same one I grew up with."

Peter suppressed a sad smile, knowing just how true that statement was. He hated that Olivia had had to choose between the timelines, between knowing him and having an at least somewhat happy family. And yet neither one of them would exchange what they had for the world. "You're protective of her, I appreciate that", he therefore simply responded.

"Someone has to be!" Rachel argued. "And for the longest time, Olivia and I only had each other. I'd hate for her to repeat my mistakes."

Peter nodded understandingly. "You got married because of Ella, maybe even stayed with Greg a little longer than you wanted to in order to protect your children. I get that. None of which is the case for Olivia, though, I can promise you that."

"Wow, cutting right to the chase, aren't we," she asked a little shaken, frowning at the fact that he even knew about that. "You bring up an interesting point though. Are you planning on marrying my sister? And if so, is it because she's pregnant?"

At that he let out an outright laugh. As far as he was concerned, he and Olivia were as close as two people could possibly be. Once upon a timeline, she had already been his wife and for him, that had never stopped being true, even though she herself couldn't remember that particular part. Neither could Rachel, who had been overjoyed as her Maid of Honor at the time.

"I wouldn't say we're planning anything per se", he started, looking for the right words. "But that is because whenever we do, the world decides to crumble all around us at that time, needing for us to save it – figuratively speaking, of course – and we end up needing to reschedule. So no, we're not planning it, but we are going to get married, there is no doubt about that, there never was. And not because she's pregnant either, which while a surprise, hasn't been entirely unplanned. Your sister and I – we are forever. The baby just makes everything even a little more perfect."

After taking in his little monologue for a few moments, Rachel eventually cracked a smile. "You know how to plead you case, I give you that. Seems like you're just as insanely in love with her as she is with you. I just hope the two of you know what you're getting yourselves into – my sister isn't exactly the easiest person to live with. You think you know her well enough to do this?"

"Better that I know myself", was his honest reply.

Now it was her turn to laugh. "I highly doubt that." In love or not, Olivia was still the most secretive person she could think of.

Peter raised an eyebrow, already in a challenging mood. "Wanna test me?"

Rachel nodded, a dangerous twinkle shining in her eyes now – one he knew so well from her sister. "Let's start easy, shall we? Last meaningful relationship?"

"John Scott", he answered without missing a beat.

"Reason for their split," she continued.

He frowned, looking at her questioningly. "Would have been hard to continue the relationship after he had died, wouldn't it?", he tried to joke, unwillingly remembering that Olivia had in fact been on quite a few dates with John after his demise, albeit solely in her mind.

"Our mother's first name?" Rachel continued, leaning forward on the couch.

"Marilyn." And again, there was no hesitation on his part.

The woman across from him however swallowed hard, surprised that it hadn't been Nina's name that had been mentioned. Olivia hardly ever talked about their birth mother – and if she did, it was with her, usually around the anniversary of her death. In fact, not even Nina herself had been told a whole lot about the woman who had given them life by either sister.

She got herself under control within seconds, though. But now, she was really curious. "College?"

"North Western."

It went on like this for a couple minutes, with Peter never even stopping to think for the right answer. He knew she would live on nothing but black coffee, cereal and hard liquor at times, maybe throw in a couple m&m's when she felt like a change. Never the yellow ones though – he ended up having to eat those. Of course, while answering, he made sure Rachel knew that he would feed her sister properly whenever he could, especially now. Not that either of them thought Olivia wouldn't take better care of herself for the next nine months. She would do everything in her power to make sure this baby came into this world as healthy as possible, something she didn't consider important enough to do for herself.

And of course, he also knew what her favorite brand of scotch was, and that she was already showing signs of withdrawal … not to mention the kind of looks he had been receiving when he had thrown out all the regular coffee and replaced it with decaf.

He knew that their father had been in the Army, that the door to their house in Jacksonville had been painted red by him – the house they had lived in when Rachel had been born, when their father had eventually died.

When she mentioned his impressive card tricks and asked whether he had ever tried to play poker with her sister, he just scoffed, shaking his head. "Are you nuts? She couldn't not count cards even if she tried."

After a while, Rachel had broken out in a fit of giggles, already forgetting the purpose of their little game. And yet, his accuracy bothered her for some reason. It almost seemed as if he knew her sister too well – or, if she was honest with herself, it made her realize that maybe she didn't know her well enough.

So she cleared her throat, getting serious again, preparing herself to ask the one question that would show the both of them exactly where they stood with Olivia. After taking a deep breath, she looked him square in the eye and brought out as fast as possible: "How did our stepfather die?"

She sensed he knew the answer by the time his formerly amused expression vanished from his face, starting to mirror her grim one more and more. And like expected, he returned her grave look, answering in a dangerously low voice: "Olivia shot him when she was 9." He knew about the changes in this timeline, knew she had gone through with it this time around. She had told him not so long ago, being reminded of it herself only through perusing her own file. There wouldn't be another Birthday card on their doorstep this year – and despite the remorse he felt for the young Olivia for the burden on her conscience, for the sake of their unborn child, he thanked a God he didn't even believe in for that mere fact.

Despite suspecting it, Rachel still gasped at his correct answer. Olivia didn't talk about that – she didn't, never, to anyone, period. Even between the two of them, her sister acted as if that part of their lives had never even happened – which was why she never got to ask her the one question that had been in the back of her mind ever since that meaningful night. So instead, she decided to ask Peter: "Why?"

The man who she was now sure would be her brother-in-law in the not-so-distant-future looked up at her and frowned, looking for the meaning behind her question. And he knew she didn't want a simple explanation of their stepfather's abusive nature – she wanted to know what had driven Olivia to the extreme that very night.

"He broke your mother's nose", Peter therefore began after a sigh, more guessing than knowing that that particular story had stayed the same. "Then he left, only to come back after a while. Your mother was already on the floor, she wasn't a real target for him anymore – and Olivia was nowhere in sight … but you were. So that night, for the first time, he didn't stop at her or your mother, he tried to lay a hand on you."

A single tear started rolling down Rachel's cheek, long suppressed memories coming to the surface. "He didn't get that far … Olivia had gone for the gun in his bedside table in case he came back – more to hide it from him than anything else, I think. But then he came after me … all I remember after that is curling into a ball in a corner of the room while he started yelling at Olivia – then there were three shots fired. Everything after that is just blank."

Peter cast his look down, digesting this information. Three shots, not just two. Something in this timeline had changed Olivia to the point that she hadn't stopped at simply incapacitating him.

"She never even admitted her reasons to me, though", Rachel went on, recapturing his attention. "I asked her once, when I was old enough to understand exactly what had happened. She didn't answer, just reminded me what a horrible person he was and that she did what had to be done. That was the one – really the only one – time that she ever acknowledged that night even happened. And yet, she told you."

Not exactly knowing exactly when their harmless little game had taken a turn for the worst, Peter grabbed one of her hands in support, surprised she didn't yank it away immediately. "You were young enough to suppress most memories of that night, I'm sure Olivia simply didn't want to bring them back up."

Rachel nodded, using her free hand to wipe new tears out of her eyes. "Of course. Olivia Dunham, always doing what is right for everyone else. She might have needed someone to talk to, though, because despite pretending not to remember it, she still did."

Giving her hand a little squeeze, Peter forced a grin onto his face. "You know her freakish mind. Olivia remembers everything." He knew that for her, that was as much blessing as it was curse.

Managing to get her emotions under control again, the woman across from him smiled through her tears. "Guess you proved me wrong then. You, my friend, know my sister better than any other entity under the sun and are perfectly equipped to handle a child with her that will probably come into the world with the same stubbornness as its mother."

His forced grin turned into a real one, assuring her: "Stubbornness is a Bishop trait as well, so that's a given."

"What is?"

He turned around at the sound of Olivia's voice, allowing Rachel another moment to dry receding tears. It didn't go unnoticed by the older sister, though.

"What happened," she asked, alarmed, stepping further into the room. "You were fine ten minutes ago." Turning to Peter, she slapped him lightly on his good shoulder. "What did you tell her?"

Rachel laughed, holding up a hand to reassure her. "No, no. I'm good. In fact, Peter here might just have restored my faith in the opposite sex.

Olivia grinned knowingly, visibly relaxing. "Yeah, he's good at that, isn't he? Though ten minutes might be a new record for him." Stepping behind her boyfriend still seated on the coffee table, she began stroking his hair lovingly, silently thanking him for lifting her sister's spirits. Leaning into her touch on auto-pilot, his head came to rest against her stomach.

"Picked a good one, Sis", the younger woman declared.

"I know", she replied with the utmost certainty, leaning down to press a light kiss on top of his head. "Not planning on throwing this one back anytime soon."

Basking in her touch, Peter started to beam proudly like a child, thrusting his fist in the air. "I got approval!"

Both sisters laughed at his boyish display of victory, Olivia leaning down even further to put both arms around his shoulders from behind, bringing herself close enough to reach his cheek for her next kiss. "As if there was ever any doubt in your mind …"

Rachel continued smiling at the unusual cuteness radiating off of her sister simply through being near that man when involuntarily, a yawn crept out of her mouth. That was when she remembered that she had been on her feet for almost 24 hours straight.

"You must be exhausted!" Olivia exclaimed, also as if she herself had just remembered, never letting go off Peter's shoulders. "Go to bed. We'll talk more in the morning, maybe call Nina, go out to brunch … do something fun for the kids."

"I'd like that", her sister nodded, getting up from the couch with yet another yawn. "But I really feel bad about taking your bed away."

"The couch will be fine for us", Peter assured her, grabbing one of Olivia's arms to press a kiss to her hand.

Olivia nodded. "He's a cuddler."

Her boyfriend only rolled his eyes, eliciting a giggle from the younger Dunham.

"Come on, let's get you some pajamas." The older one finally let go off Peter, grabbing Rachel by the arm and attempting to lead her into the bedroom.

She hesitated, making Olivia stop. "I've got my stuff in the car." She pointed in the general direction of the front door. "It'll just take a minute."

Ignoring her, her sister pulled her with her. "Don't bother about it. Peter will get it in the morning. You'll just go to sleep now and worry about everything else tomorrow."

Peter flashed them a reassuring smile over his shoulder, nodding in agreement before getting up from the coffee table.

When they had disappeared into the other room, he allowed himself to let out a heavy sigh. He remembered growing up with a single mother – Rachel's life wasn't going to get any easier from now on. But when he had initially met her, she had already started to get her life back in order after Greg – she might need to start all over again, but at least he knew that she and the kids would be better off in the end. No matter the differences in this new timeline, Ella was strong – and given the genes, he guessed Eddie would be no different.

He had already plopped down onto the couch when Olivia returned to the room, her expression mirroring his own thoughts. She was worried, but also relieved that her sister had finally come to her senses where her jerk of a husband was concerned.

"Scoot over," she demanded with a tired voice after shutting off the lights, kicking her shoes off in the middle of the living room. "Wouldn't want the baby and me to crush you."

He obeyed with a grin, taking her still slender frame into his arms with practiced ease, pulling the blanked from the back of the couch over the both of them. "The kids okay," he mumbled into her shoulder.

"Sleeping like babies – Rachel, too. She was out as soon as her head hit the pillow. They all had a pretty rough day." Snuggling deeper into his embrace, a comfortable warmth started enveloping her when one of his hands automatically found its way to her stomach again. "You still managed to make quite an impression on them, though."

"Dunhams just love me", he replied easily. "I thought you had noticed."

She rolled her eyes, even though she knew he couldn't see it. "I'm sure turning on the infamous Bishop-charm with my sister and bribing my niece with Walter's classified Hot Chocolate recipe had absolutely nothing to do with it, 'Uncle Peter'."

"Is it a crime that I know how to make a killer Hot Chocolate? I think I was about ten when Walter deemed me old enough to teach me how to make it – one of the few good memories I have left from my childhood. Can't wait to show the little one." He just knew their kid would love it as much as he had back then. Smiling at the thought, he let his fingers dance across her belly.

"You're gonna put the kid into a sugar coma before it's ready for pre-school", she stated knowingly, grimacing at her own use at the word 'it'. "We're gonna need to figure out the sex."

Peter raised an eyebrow in the dark. "You don't wanna be surprised?"

"I think I've had enough surprises to last me several lifetimes, thank you. Besides, I might be a little preoccupied in the delivery room, wouldn't you say?"

He chuckled against the skin of her neck. "You? Distracted by anything on the day your child is being born? Liv, I am convinced no amount of labor pain could manage that. Hell, not even a full-fledged apocalypse could. And I've seen plenty of those."

She attempted to shake her head as much as his tight embrace allowed her to. "Okay, okay, stop flattering me. I'll think about it. But I'm not promising anything. Plus, you'll have to come up with a nursery to accommodate both a boy and a girl."

"That won't be much of a problem – I already have plenty ideas", he assured her, letting out a satisfied sigh. In fact, he's had the layout for the baby's room in his head ever since they had taken the first tour of their new house.

Feeling his mind work behind her, she sighed contentedly, knowing he had probably already picked out the color for the walls. "What would you like it to be?"

His fingers halted their comforting ministrations over her stomach immediately, a sharp intake of breath the only answer he could give her for a moment.

Realizing just what she had said, she bit her lip, silently cursing herself. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean …"

"It's okay", he interrupted, swallowing the sudden lump in his throat. "It's just …"

"Henry", Olivia breathed out in a whisper, letting the name hang in the room for a moment, knowing Peter's thoughts would inevitably drift to the son he had never known existed until he had already ceased doing so. A son he had told her about in a broken voice that very first night they had had together in this timeline. A son he had had with another Olivia Dunham …

After a couple of silence-filled minutes, she dared to suggest in a similarly broken voice: "September said he had been born to the wrong woman … maybe now is simply our turn to get him back the right way."

Peter involuntarily smiled into her shoulder, pulling her even closer from behind. "So you think it's a Henry?"

She shrugged into him. "As crazy as that would sound for anyone else, it would make sense in our screwed-up little world."

"Doesn't mean it is what's going to happen. It could still turn out to be a Henrietta", he suggested with yet another smile, already imagining a little Olivia Dunham running around his father's lab in search for his stash of Red Vines.

At that though, Olivia let out an outright laugh, turning her head around to him. "As if I would ever let you name our child Henrietta."

He looked genuinely hurt at her words. "I happen to think it has a nice ring to it – Henrietta Bishop – a name as unique as she will surely turn out to be."

"So her last name is going to be Bishop, is it?" She teased, settling back into a more comfortable position.

"Since yours is going to be that too, I'd think that would be appropriate", he simply stated, not the least bit rattled by her comment.

Despite the new wave of warmth spreading through her body at his words, she smiled into the darkness, advising him dryly: "If that's your idea of a proposal, I suggest you put some more work into it."

"Noted", he assured with a grin, taking her suggestion as a yes in advance. "Besides, being named Bishop or not, I'm sure she will still be a Dunham at heart. Something I'm sincerely hoping for, seeing as the women in your family can't seem to resist my charms and everything. O yeah, she'll turn out to be just like her Mom."

Olivia chuckled uncomfortably at that, sending out a desperate prayer to the universe to stop just that from happening. Her daughter wouldn't grow up a soldier, a gun on her hip and suspicion in her bones, fighting a hopeless war against immeasurable forces just like her parents did every goddamn day …

No, not if her mother could help it.

She barely noticed the single tear rolling down her cheek at the thought, but was glad to be facing away from Peter when it occurred. Really, what entity was she sending prayers to anyway? The only forces able to change the course of the world for the better that she had come to known in the past were she herself and the man currently wrapped around her.

Not that they wouldn't do anything in and beyond their power to keep their baby save … but how often could they still manage to get lucky? How often could one come back from being erased from time and space? How often could one survive a bullet to the head? Their entire life was a gamble, one their child would sooner or later fall victim to, one way or the other. After all, everyone knew, would their family stop fighting even for a moment, the world would start to crumble at their feet.

"You asleep?", Peter's next words pulled her out of the dark cloud forming in her mind – the one that always came with quiet and darkness these days – forcing her to shake her head against the couch cushion underneath her.

"No, just thinking." Unable to share her fears with him just now – no need to add to the ones he had accumulated ever since Walter had pulled the trigger on her, really – she tried to think of something more positive to give away. The time for crying on his shoulder, needing him to be her rock, would come soon enough.

"You're good with girls", she therefore disclosed, grabbing the hand of the arm he had swung around her, lacing her fingers with his against her stomach, her niece's beaming expression from hours ago still fresh in her mind. "She's so gonna be a Daddy's girl."

Peter smiled, trying to ignore the slight tremble in her voice – which wasn't exactly easy, since he could practically feel her anxiety seeping over into his body. He knew what she was worried about – hell, he felt the same. But at the same time, the memory from her lifeless body in his arms was still so new, so raw that the mere fact that she was with him and breathing, carrying their healthy child was enough of a miracle for him to suppress all his worries for now.

It could have gone out so much worse – he could be alone right now, trying to drink himself into a sleep that wouldn't come, begging for the earth to open up and swallow him whole simply so the agony would stop, while her cold and empty shell of a body would be lying on an even colder autopsy table. He remembered going through all this before all too clearly – well enough to be determined to never ever let it happen again.

So whatever catastrophe fate would throw at them next, he would make sure the woman in his arms and the child in her womb would be protected above all else, no matter what deal with the devil he would have to make for that. Yeah, Peter Bishop knew with unknown certainty that he for one wouldn't stop at ripping holes in this universe or the next to keep the people he loved safe. And if that made him a hypocrite, he really didn't give a damn.

Olivia had to know all that. Of course she did. But just like him, she also knew that sometimes, things tended to defy their control. They would have to spend the rest of their lives fighting for every grain of happiness they could gather – but they also couldn't allow the darkness following them around every step of the way to overwhelm them. He had to make her realize that somehow.

"Listen, Liv, I'm not saying that things are going to be alright. We've both seen too many things to actually believe in fairy tales. What I can say though, is that no matter what, every moment we are going to spend with our child, she is never going to doubt just how much she is being loved. A luxury neither one of us had growing up. As long as we give her that, she'll grow up strong enough to face anything in this world." He tightened his grip around her, feeling her relax in his arms.

And just like that, he had done the impossible again. With a few simple words – merely stating the obvious, really – he had put her mind at ease. And he was right, of course. They couldn't live their lives always fearing the worst. That wouldn't do them or the baby any good. Maybe for once, they could just live in the moment, think no further than decorating the nursery or stocking up on diapers.

"And then no matter what, timeline shifts and new worlds aside, she'll be able to just keep going, just like her Dad?", Olivia suggested after a while, still impressed with the ease he had adapted to the changes around him within the last year.

Feeling her anxiety finally ebb away, Peter allowed himself another grin against her skin. "See, she'll be the perfect blend of the both of us."

With that picture in mind, they both found a little bit of peace that night – long after the first light of dawn had started appearing through the blinds. But as Peter's breathing evened out behind her, Olivia couldn't bring herself to care about that minor detail. He wasn't a light sleeper, could in fact sleep just about anywhere as long as Walter wasn't humming the Fibonacci Sequence from three feet away. Her sister was out like a light, exhaustion having finally caught up with her. So as long as the kids would try to use up their well-deserved rest as well, neither one of them should be up before noon anyway.

So despite everything, she knew she would at least get some rest after all. Peter was right – if their daughter would be anything like them, she would grow up strong enough to handle the dangers of this world, just like they did every day. And till it would come to that, they would make sure she was happy – just like Rachel would ensure Ella and Eddie would be, despite their parents' separation.

That was their job as parents, wasn't it? The rest of the world could wait …

* * *

Neither Olivia nor Peter could have possibly known it at the time, but ever since that eventful night that had turned into the wee hours of the morning, their baby had never been referred to as an 'it' ever again. Whenever they would discuss their unborn miracle, it would always be 'her', they would be wondering about. It would always their little 'Henrietta', what they would be calling her – albeit as a joke in the beginning.

By the time the little bundle of joy had been put into Olivia's arms in the delivery room, however, she had officially been Henrietta Bishop for months already. They had foregone the 'Dunham', given that as expected, her mother had been a Bishop by the time of her birth as well.

And when she had buttoned up her baby girl in the first of many little pink onesies declaring her as 'Daddy's Little Girl' – Peter had bought them in bulk – for the very first time, Etta had stared up at her mother with her father's soulful blue eyes and Olivia had seen the strength within them. An inner strength so powerful that it had overwhelmed the young mother for seemingly endless moments. And she had known then and there that Peter would be proven right – Henrietta Bishop would take the world by storm, no matter the obstacles in her way. She would simply keep on going, keep on fighting, just like her Dad.

In the end, she had been forced to – forced by a cruel world that wouldn't allow any other course of action. Therefore, 24 years after holding his baby girl in his arms for the very first time, Peter Bishop stood at the end of a train car in the middle of the post-apocalyptic madness their world had become, and saw his own eyes reflected back at him from his now grown daughter's face. And as the immeasurable relief at seeing her with him – alive and well against all odds, still fighting the impossible fight – washed over him, it suddenly hit him that they had both been right all those years ago.

She had turned out just like her mother – from the fire in her eyes right down to the gun on her hip. Looking at her practically hurt – she resembled Olivia just too much. At that moment, he saw in her what had first intrigued him in Baghdad in another lifetime – that unwillingness to accept the world for what it was.

Others would have given up trying to win this war decades ago, seeing as there was just no possible way to win it …

The rest of the world thought they had all died in the purge, seeing as there was no possible way to escape the Observers …

But of course, his baby girl was right here, despite all impossibilities. It could only have been her, getting them out of that amber. Was there ever any doubt about that?

For all the resemblance, though, he could also see a great deal of himself in those ever watering eyes before him. He knew she would have had to adjust to the world around her, would have needed to blend in in order to survive. He had always been good at that – conning everyone and everything around him to make them believe he was being something that he wasn't. As much as it pained him to know that his daughter would have never been able to simply be herself in this oppressed society where free will was sanctioned, he was also glad that she had inherited something from him that had allowed her to simply be alive. Even that had become a luxury in this world after all.

And cradling his little girl in his arms again, like he had craved for so long, allowing her to stop fighting for just a minute, he silently promised the both of them – her and her mother – that he would do anything to bring this family back together again, even if he had to kick every one of those bald-headed bastards back into their own time stream single-handedly.

They would survive this, they always did. After multiple deaths and even non-existence, what could really harm him or Olivia anymore? And as for Etta?

Well, she was after all the best of the both of them …

* * *

The end


End file.
